It's not often an entire archaeological theory of this magnitute is based entirely in knapping. With the recent discovery of new evidence it seems like the theory is going to dominate the agenda for a long time. Here's

For those unfamiliar with the theory, here's a brief summary.

The Solutreans were a people who lived in prehistoric France and Spain around 21-17,000 years ago when they vanished from the record. They had an advanced stone (and other) technology unmatched anywhere else on earth and cultures in Spain and France that succeeeded them produce much inferior stone goods, creating a mystery of what happened to the Solutreans and their technology.

Around 12,000 years ago in the US the Indians crossed the Baring Strait into America and with them a new technology appeared, Clovis, which is similar to Solutrean, and there is no trace of anything in Siberia being its predecessor. So where did a complete super advanced techology just appear from? Solutrean Theory then emerged that the Solutreans crossed the pack ice of the Atlantic in similar method to the Eskimos and landed in America with their technology to teach it to later Indian migrants from Siberia.

Several problems with the theory came to light, the 5000 year gap between the dispearance of the Solutreans and the emergence of Clovis. That if advanced Solutrean stone technology crossed the Atlantic why didn't other technologies such as needles and cave paintings. That Solutrean technology was overated, this type of technology was in Africa, eastern Europe, later developed by the Aboriginals in Australia, so the American Indians could have developed it themselves alone too.

A few years later, Clovis Theory was disproven, that the first people in America crossed the Baring Strait 12,000 years ago, and it emerged that America was peopled long before, proven by sites like Cactus hill. These sites showed no sign of Solutrean technology, but a completely different kind, showing these people weren't Solutreans or even taught advanced technology by Solutreans. So with these objections Solutrean theory looked dead in the water. However then the new find above has been made and it seems back on the agenda, at least until the stuff is fully examined.

- - - - - -I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. cats look down on us but pigs treat us as equals.